Bowness Park

There are two amazing parks - Bowness and Baker - opposite to each other on either bank of the Bow river.

Bowness Park is a waterfront spot on the southern bank of the Bow River. The two km long park that occupies over 74 acres of land is developed keeping picnickers and children in mind.

For picnic lovers, it has lots of picnic areas with hundreds of picnic tables, sheltered areas, firepits, and barbeques.

In order to amuse children, there are two playgrounds packed with latest equipment, a colossal wadding pool and spray park. The park, furthermore, has the most exciting feature to give a thrilling experience to children - a miniature train that runs until 18:00, seven days a week. The pleasing sound of the train horn can be heard from anywhere in the park.

Additionally, the park has a variety of myriad of trees carefully planted at a distance from each other, and there are lots of well-mowed and clean grassy grounds.

Also, there are a number of paved and unpaved but well-made trails for walkers, cyclists or skate boarders. For the people who want to enjoy various scenic views of the river, lagoon, children playing at the playgrounds, and various activities taking place in the park there are a lot of benches.

Moreover, from the boating club, one may rent a canoe, kayak, or paddle boat and enjoy boating in the beautiful lagoon and/or the river.

What's more, the park has a restaurant and a coffee house with plenty of sitting arrangements in front of the prepossessing pond, and it has plenty of clean and well-maintained washrooms.

The parking lot is enormous, so hundreds of vehicles can be parked; however, on weekends, it is extremely challenging to find a spot to park in a designated area. At 15:00 on a Sunday, my wife and I saw cars parked all over the place. Around 18:00, two parking enforcement officers, in uniform, were busy ticketing all the vehicles parked illegally.

Surprisingly, although there are many picnic areas, there is only one water faucet - very difficult to operate - in the proximity to picnic area 5 and the children play area on the west. I wish there were some easy-to-handle drinking water fountains near the washrooms or wherever possible.

All in all, the popular Bowness Park that is swarmed by people of all the age group is a boon to the Calgarians.